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Chad Le Clos & Gregorio Paltrinieri: Short-Course Defenders On A Long Olympic Haul
- Updated: December 6, 2016
South Africa’s Chad le Clos gets his campaign to retain four crowns at the World Short-Course Championships underway in Windsor, Canada, today, motivation spiked by two silver linings (one a golden moment denied him by a swimmer towing a doping record) at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games back in August.
Further stepping stones and next-chapter runes: that’s what the next six days will be for many of the top names racing for honour over the next six days at the in Windsor, among weekend prospects to look forward to the defence of the 1500m freestyle crown by an Italian little-pool global standard bearer who has a new title in tow this time: Gregorio Paltrinieri, Olympic champion.
Two years beyond London 2012 gold in the 200m butterfly, Le Clos became the first swimmer to win a butterfly sweep at the World Short-Course Championships. He added the 200m free crown for good measure, a test along the way to Olympic silver as an outside smoker in a four-lap race in which he set a blistering pace until an asterisk passed him in the closing strokes of battle.
The triple ‘fly defence starts in the 200m today, Le Clos and Japan’s Daiya Seto the only two men in Windsor who have been inside 1:50 this season, no others inside 1:51. Denmark’s Viktor Bromer and Australia’s David Morgan are closest on the clock on 1:51s going into day 1 heats come the Canadian morning that looks set to stretch well into the afternoon, prelims scheduled to finish at 2pm.
Seto and Le Clos exchanged blows on world cup tour, each claiming three wins over the other in the 200m butterfly. Le Clos is the world record holder, has made a habit of winning on many a short-course occasion and has the edge of form guide going into battle. “Race before records,” is Le Clos’ mantra heading for the blocks.
In an interview with SwimVortex in Rome back in September, Le Clos slated the 100m free as one of his ambitions in the coming Olympic cycle. He is entered in the four-lapper in Windsor but he may bypass this time: the free semi falls just before the ‘fly dash final in a mad and manic schedule that looks like a …
